Ski Area Walk-up lift ticket rates, 2013-14

[billski]

Since it's raining and I have to go back to work, here's some trivia for this year. We may whine about Stowe, but they come in at #20 on the list of priciest tickets. The usual caveats apply - very few people pay walk up rate, tickets can now be purchased online if you are ready to commit to a date in advance. As usual, I also pick the holiday rate, as that is one of the few metrics that has been consistent over time.

A last bit of trivia is
Over an eight year period, Vail increased their ticket price 72% while Stowe increased price 29%.
I hope you can read this.

	Walk-up Lift Tickets - Weekend/Holiday, Adult, All Day, All lifts, Peak-Holiday Price
1	Vail	$ 139
2	Beaver Creek	$ 129
3	Aspen /Snowmass	$ 129
4	Buttermilk/Tiehack (Snowmass/Aspen)	$ 129
5	Breckenridge	$ 129
6	Steamboat	$ 119
7	Keystone	$ 119
8	Copper Mt	$ 118
9	Teluride	$ 109
10	Jackson Hole	$ 109
11	Winter Park	$ 109
12	Heavenly	$ 109
13	Deer Valley	$ 108
14	Park City	$ 107
15	Mammoth	$ 107
16	Sun Valley	$ 105
17	Alpine Meadows	$ 102
18	Squaw Valley	$ 102
19	Crested Butte	$ 101
20	Stowe	$ 98
21	Snowbird	$ 92
22	Stratton	$ 90
23	Sugarbush	$ 89
24	Killington	$ 89
25	Okemo	$ 89

 

[ss20]

F'ing ridiculous to pay 140 bucks at Vail.

If you ski for more than $60, you are doing something wrong.

 

[billski]

F'ing ridiculous to pay 140 bucks at Vail.

If you ski for more than $60, you are doing something wrong.

All I can say is that Vail is vast. Simply vast. It's the only place I'd consider paying $100 for and that was 4 years ago. Something happened between 2011 and today. in 2011 it was $108.

Stowe just shot up from $92 to 98 in the last year, but they tend to do their price adjustments every four years.

We have to be careful when looking at walk up rates. Online, advance or promotional purchases are changing the ticket pricing dynamics. Everyone offers a "discount" online nowadays. Mark it up to mark it down. No quibbles, prices have become crazy. It was only 15 years ago that Colorado lift tickets were dirt cheap compared to the east. Cruise into any hotel and get an even deeper ticket discount. No more happy days...

 

[drjeff]

If you catch Vail on a powder day, the back bowls ARE worth $140!! Then again if you didn't buy a 7 day Epic pass for about $600 ahead of time and stay longer, that's your fault! Vail is AMAZING!!!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using AlpineZone mobile app

 

[skiNEwhere]

Colorado daily lift tickets are so ridiculously marked up, but their season passes discounted so heavily that if you are skiing like only 4 days you'll save more money buying a season pass instead.

IMHO Colorado has the best season pass value bar none.

 

[tomcat]

I just paid my $15 for Black Mountain Maine's everyday walk-up price.

 

[SIKSKIER]

Whistler should be slid in there at $109.

 

[MadMadWorld]

I just paid my $15 for Black Mountain Maine's everyday walk-up price.

Glad to see mountains like Black, Magic, and Suicide Six bucking the trend. If we want to see lift ticket prices drop we should support these mountains.

 

[tomcat]

I know Jay Peak actually went down a in the past couple years from I believe $76 to $69. That's also a nice change of pace.

 

[Euler]

I just paid my $15 for Black Mountain Maine's everyday walk-up price.

Here's to places that remember to keep it reasonable for the locals. The folks who tend to settle in places with good skiing don't tend to find jobs that pay enough to allow for skiing, so policies like this are awesome!!

 

[COskiauthority]

Here is a list of all CO resorts window rates with half day rates, half day start times, and % discounts for skiing half the day vs full. Here is the link in case my pasting of the info below gets all jacked up. http://www.coloradoskiauthority.com/ski-resorts/lift-tickets/half-day-lift-tickets/

Ski Resort Window Rate Half Day Percent Off Time Available
Arapahoe Basin
$82 $67 18% 1230
Aspen
$119 $85 29% 1200
Aspen Highlands
$119 $85 19% 1200
Beaver Creek
$129 $105 19% 1230
Breckenridge*
$124 $97 22% 1230
Buttermilk
$119 $85 29% 1200
Copper Mountain
$118 $94 20% 1200
Crested Butte**
$102 $77 24% 1230
Durango Mountain
$77 $58 25% 1230
Eldora
$79 $64 19% 1230
Granby Ranch (SolVista)
$59 $51 14% 1230
Hesperus***
$39 $29 26% 1230
Keystone*
$109 $90 17% 1200
Loveland Ski Area
$61 $49 20% 1130
Monarch Mountain*
$65 $50 23% 1230
Powderhorn
$59 $45 24% 1230
Silverton Mountain
$49 N/A N/A N/A
Ski Cooper
$47 $39 17% 1155
Snowmass
$119 $85 29% 1200
Steamboat
$119 $89 25% 1230
Sunlight Mountain*****
$57 $47 18% 1200
Telluride*****
$109 $86 21% 1200
Vail
$129 $105 19% 1230
Winter Park
$109 $99 9% 1200
Wolf Creek
$58 $45 22% 1230

 

[billski]

Here is a list of all CO resorts window rates with half day rates, half day start times, and % discounts for skiing half the day vs full. Here is the link in case my pasting of the info below gets all jacked up. http://www.coloradoskiauthority.com/ski-resorts/lift-tickets/half-day-lift-tickets/

Ski Resort Window Rate Half Day Percent Off Time Available

Yeah, it never makes sense to me to buy half day. Did you also notice most places don't offer a morning half day ticket? They're no fools.

 

[Cannonball]

Yeah, it never makes sense to me to buy half day. Did you also notice most places don't offer a morning half day ticket? They're no fools.

If you show up in the afternoon it absolutely makes sense to buy a half day ticket. That is what they are for.

 

[billski]

If you show up in the afternoon it absolutely makes sense to buy a half day ticket. That is what they are for.

Agreed, which is what COskiauthority posits in his web (see above for a link).
IMO, conditions are much better in the AM than the PM, except for Spring Skiing. That's why they never make sense.

 

[Cannonball]

Agreed, which is what COskiauthority posits in his web (see above for a link).
IMO, conditions are much better in the AM than the PM, except for Spring Skiing. That's why they never make sense.

Of course. But there are lots of reasons why folks might not have a choice.

 

[skiNEwhere]

If you show up in the afternoon it absolutely makes sense to buy a half day ticket. That is what they are for.

I think he's referring to the fact that half day ticket prices are never even close to half off.

 

[skiNEwhere]

It's crazy how the age groups differ. At big bear in SoCal you're considering a young adult until you're 23. But at Vail you're considered an adult at 13

 

[mlkrgr]

Yeah, it never makes sense to me to buy half day. Did you also notice most places don't offer a morning half day ticket? They're no fools.

Yeah; there's no additional cost for the ski resort for you to be skiing 1/2 day vs full day especially in the morning when it's more crowded anyway. Gotta love the people that come at 10 am and say they're done at 12:30 pm or 1 pm while on a day ticket. And the afternoon starts when the morning people start to clear out. If anything, all those people that quit early save the resort $$ with the lifts they can start shutting down at 3 pm (sometimes 2 pm when you talk midweek Shooting Star service at Stratton).

I don't know why I would buy half day either. Most resorts offer online tix or bus trip pricing full day tix that is the same or lower than half day pricing. Heck, even a bus trip to Stowe for $77 is lower than the pm half day pricing of $84 (or Sunday AM half day as well) which matches the bypass/online purchase rate and in some cases is still higher.

 

[thetrailboss]

FWIW Canyons was $109 walk up for a holiday/weekend. It is very easy to get cheaper tickets through Costco or by buying in advance on Canyons' own website.

Costco was selling them for about $75 pp and holiday online rate was $89 pp.

 

[skifree]

the mt snow 4 for $99 sunday afternoon ticket is a steal.